1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a bed assembly including bed rails interconnected at their central portions by a cross wire assembly having terminal ends connected with the inwardly extending horizontal supporting flange on each of the bed rails with the horizontal flange forming a support for engaging a bed spring assembly and including a depressed or offset portion associated with a hook-shaped end on the cross wire so that the hook-shaped end can only be assembled with the offset portion by inserting it from the underside so that the free end of the hook-shaped end is disposed in the recess or offset portion in the upper surface of the horizontal flange and the portion of the cross wire underlying the horizontal flange is continuous and provided with relatively smooth contour surfaces to prevent injury in the event of inadvertent engagement therewith.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In prior U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,118,151 issued Jan. 21, 1964 and Re. 27,182 issued Sept. 27, 1971, there is disclosed a structure which includes bed rails interconnected by a central tension member in which the bed rails each include an inwardly extending bottom flange engaged by a hook-shaped end on the tension member. This structure eliminated the use of bed slats with the tension member preventing outward deflection of the bed rails and maintaining the flanges in underlying supporting engagement with the bed spring assembly, resulting in many benefits and advantages as set forth in the aforementioned patents which are incorporated herein by reference thereto. Also, the prior art cited during prosecution of the applications which matured into the aforementioned patents is incorporated herein by reference thereto.
The slatless bed assembly disclosed in the aforementioned patents has been further developed by the use of a tension wire forming the tension member with a predetermined length of wire of one-piece construction being used for a twin size bed assembly and a shorter fixed length of wire or wire rod being provided for use in combination with the longer wire when used with a double size bed assembly. Other appropriate length wires may be provided for use with other standard width beds. The cross wires or wire rods have a circular cross-sectional configuration and the ends thereof are reversely bent to form substantially identical hook-shaped ends which can be easily assembled with respect to each other and easily connected to the inwardly extending bottom flanges on the bed rails. In some instances, when the hook-shaped ends of the cross wire or cross wire assembly have been connected with the inwardly extending horizontal flanges, the hooking engagement has been such that the terminal free end of each hook-shaped end is disposed below the horizontal flange, thus resulting in an exposed relatively sharp edge formed by the end edge of the cross wire which is of generally circular cross-sectional configuration. This exposed end edge can possibly cause an injury if a person inadvertently strikes or otherwise comes into contact therewith. For example, if the cross wire and bed rail assembly is used in a bunk bed assembly and the upper set of bed rails are connected by the cross wire in such a manner that the free end is exposed along the undersurface of the horizontal flanges, a person occupying the bottom bed can inadvertently strike his head against the exposed end edge especially if he sets up in bed or sets on the side edge of the lower bed.